Personally, I vote for the Sun version instead of the PPA rep because the latter is based on the Novell build, some additional features but also additional bugs. And the PPA version has had serious problems in the past (beginning of 3.0), even if the last versions are better (not that much topics about it in the Ubuntu forums or here).

PPA stands for Personal Package Archive. It is a place where any user can upload his own packages and make it available to the whole community. These packages are not "official" nor supported by Canonical. It allows users to create their own versions so that other users can benefit of them. Hence the problems that can be faced by other users if their environment is very different from the one used at the creation of the package.

First, most of the Linux distros (e.g. Ubuntu) do not use the vanilla ooo, they use the go-ooo version [1] & [2]Here is the (empty for now) PPA to update you Karmic go-ooo from 3.1 to 3.2 [3]You should (rather) not follow the posts advising you to delete+install from scratch. You will lose the security updates, the tailor made functions and the cosmetic changes specific to your distro

nomnex wrote:You should (rather) not follow the posts advising you to delete+install from scratch. You will lose the security updates, the tailor made functions and the cosmetic changes specific to your distro

What do you mean?

- Installing OOo from scratch doesn't impact the system at all (hence no security issue). In case of security problem, it will be anyway faster to update from the OOo web site since other versions have to be pushed from that one.- Even for a system upgrade, it's better to install from scratch (my experience too) because the soft upgrade often leaves remnants that can cause troubles afterward). But it means that your HD has been correctly partitioned.

the ppa is used generally to upgrade OO packages, its the same team that makes OO packages for Ubuntu.Also bear in mind that removing OO also removes the metapackage ubuntu-desktop and ordinarily that shouldn't be a problem till you try and upgrade your distro.

NEW install: This method does not replace the existing 3.1.1 Ubuntu version of OpenOffice. It will install the Generic Linux non-distro specific version from SUN Microsystems alongside (at the same time) with the existing Ubuntu OO install. The 3.1.1 that is included with Karmic Koala is a distro (Ubuntu) specific version that has MANY differences; among them are:

1) Ubuntu OO is installed to a different location than the SUN variant.2) Ubuntu OO has 3D OpenGL acceleration.3) Ubuntu OO has complete integration with the Ubuntu distro (desktop, etc).4) Ubuntu OO has full functionality of animation and multimedia.

From the stand point of view of a novice, or casual, linux user, updating a go-oo distro specific using a PPA is just a better recommendation. Above it, it's a matter of preference and choice.

According to the links I've provided (the official documentation), the PPA is not maintained by the Ubuntu team.

The removal of the Ubuntu version doesn't remove the ubuntu-desktop package anymore (it used to in the past).

As said many times, the PPA version has been proved very flaky when 3.0 has been released (several topics here and in the Ubuntu forums also). I agree it's up to the user to chose but the fact is that the go-oo.org version has more bugs (especially with Calc and Base). So IMHO, better use the official version. I also agree that the go-oo.org version has a better support for video. The JMF (Java Media Framework) has to be installed with the Sun version, not really user convenient indeed.

Hagard: the PPA link from Scribus is made by the official maintainer of the gooo version fo Ubuntu. The PPA is empty at this days because the team was waiting for the gooo 3.2 to be implemented upstream (the version is common to Debian, Open Suze ~hips ~, Ubuntu, and some other distros)

Nevertheless, if we are both making our points (PPA vs New Install), the thread is about to loose focus from a specific question to a broaden topic. Can we settle our differences as follow:

I. the title clearly states "How to update OpenOffice 3.1 to 3.2. -> Beginner level --recommended method: use the scribus PPA to update when availableII. What is the more "hassle free method" Updating or Installing--suggested method -> Beginner level: updating. It will remains in the scope--even not ""officially"" supported--of your distro: 1 line in your /etc/apt/source.list + 1 PGP key to enter, and it's only the matter of 1 click to have a full update, "privately" maintained.III. What version should I choose between the go-oo disto specific and the vanilla ooo (Update vs New Install - all levels) -> It all comes to personal preferences. See: posts above for some inputs about the ins and outs.

Last edited by nomnex on Tue Jun 15, 2010 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Personally, modifying the sources.list and entering a PGP key is already too much hassle for me. To upgrade, I just unpack the tarball from a file browser, hit F4 to call a terminal and haven't even to type the whole filenames scouser talks about (a real loss of time and much more complicated IMHO). Then just run the dpkg commands.

Up to the user, I don't mind him using the go-oo version, of course, I just want to make clear what are the differences.

I am waking up and old thread with an update.I finally rejoin the side of Hagar de l'Est, for technical and political reasons.I am now using the vanilla OOo 3.2.1 (Oracle) on Ubuntu 9.10, and I have removed the OOo Ubuntu (OOo with Novell patches).This decision impact and void the posts I have made along the thread.